Chapter 27: The Arena…
Sam
While Cami was fighting with a strange sense of insanity, Sam was feeling completely humiliated. He had looked over to see an empty doorway. He realized it was a diversion when something clapped over his mouth, grabbed his pistols, and dragged him backwards. Sam was fighting back, but he was tired, his enemies had caught him off guard, and they were much stronger than him. He saw Cami look back at Tijd and then at him.
"SAM! NO!" Cami screamed and ran to him.
The metal door slid shut with a loud thud. Sam could hear Cami screaming something indistinct through the door. Three arctic fox cyborgs dragged Sam down the hallways. Sam struggled against them with all his might. He jumped up and used his weight to topple the arctic fox cyborg. He let go. Sam jumped up and kicked the cyborg holding his pistols. Sam snatched up his pistols and shot the third cyborg in the face. Sam shot the other two cyborgs for good measure. He checked the door even though he knew it was going to be locked.
Sam groaned and started moving down the hallways. Sam hoped Cami could survive on her own until he could do something. Sam moved slowly down the halls. The metal doors were no longer blocking off every single possible way. Sam could move freely through the blimp. He tried to find anything that could help them in anyway at all.
Sam listened and crept down the hallways. He had his pistols at the ready. He heard voices shouting insults and the sound of something hitting metal. Sam listened carefully, and recognized the outraged yells of his mother and Penelope.
Sam darted down the hallway toward their voices. Carmelita and Penelope were yelling angrily at a couple of guards through the bars of their cell. Bentley, Murray, Sly, Guru, and Panda King were in the cell opposite. Sam took aim and shot the guards. He quickly ripped out their circuitry while they were stunned.
"Sam!" Carmelita said with relief. "How? Where's Cami?"
"Still in the arena." Sam panted. "Hold on, I'll get you out." Sam kneeled down next to the lock. He pulled a thin wire out of his boot.
"No." Sly said firmly. "Go get Cami. She can't last much longer in there. We'll get ourselves out."
"What? I can't just leave you." Sam said looking at his father.
"If you help us, Cami will die." Carmelita said, swallowing. "I hate sending you into a fight, but go help your sister. We'll be fine."
"We always are." Bentley said with a sad smile.
Sam swallowed. He handed the wire to his father. "Cami said our plan was to go kick Tijd's butt, get everyone, go home, and eat cake. I intend to follow that plan. You better follow it too."
Sly smiled. "Yeah, we'll find the van and figure a way to get Tijd off our backs when we get out of here. You get Cami. Now, go."
Sam ran down the hallway. He had one pistol holstered. He wiped something wet from beneath his eyes, after he turned the corner. He turned down the next hallway.
Sam had literally no idea where he was going. Great time to notice that, Samuel. Sam thought to himself. I really should have memorized where we were.
Sam avoided all the hallways with rubble. Any hallway that he or his family had been down was not the way he needed to be. He needed to find another way into the arena. Unfortunately, when he followed the sounds of his mother's and Penelope's voices, he had strayed away from the arena. Sam basically was hoping like crazy that he would be incredibly lucky and find a way into the arena.
Cami
Cami had lost all sense of everything. She couldn't feel pain, fear, mercy, or anything at all. She threw every ounce of strength, determination, skill, speed, and ability into this. She was completely alone. Her brother, mother, father, and close friends were all taken from her. Cami also was sick and tired of being tested by this psychotic flightless bird.
Piles of unconscious cyborgs surrounded Cami (at least, she was pretty sure they were alive and unconscious). She was breathing heavily. Blood dripped down her left arm from a long cut on her shoulder. She was bruised and bleeding, but Cami was still standing, still fighting.
"Cease." Tijd commanded. The stands that Tijd's thugs were now empty. Cami never noticed that the stands had emptied until this little breather.
"You are the smallest and weakest Cooper I have ever seen, and yet you have completely destroyed a small army." Tijd gestured to the pile of cyborgs. "It is surprising to say the least."
Cami didn't respond. She just panted and glared at Tijd. "I am rather curious how long you can survive. Resume." Tijd ordered.
Cami looked at the next wave in contempt. She ripped a strip of cloth from her shirt and wrapped it tightly around her cut shoulder. It was a rush job and likely going to not hold for very much longer, but it was all she had.
Cami jumped into the middle of their ranks and fought with all she had. Her loss of all senses was no longer with her. She felt fear of death and she could feel her body screaming protest as she fought for dear life.
Cami wondered whether or not Tijd was going to allow her to die. She thought not, he seemed pretty intent on having Cami and Sam work for him.
Cami needed to hold out for as long as possible. The longer she survived the longer Sam had a chance to rest and maybe even escape if he was lucky. Cami hoped he was as he danced through the guards. Her hands were bruised and hurting. Her fur was singed on her back and tail.
In the end, her exhaustion took its toll and Cami was a second too slow dodging a blow. It hit her square on her left side and she fell onto the ground. She fought back as best she could, but she couldn't recover. She was attacked ruthlessly until Tijd ordered them to stop.
Cami was lying on the ground, bruised and battered. She slowly pushed herself up and stood up. Blood was running down her face from numerous cuts. Her makeshift bandage was torn up. She was lucky that none of her bones were broken, but every inch of her was bruised and bloodied. Cami could taste blood in her mouth. She looked up at Tijd with hatred in her eyes.
"Still standing?" Tijd asked.
Cami stepped lightly. "I won't go down easily." She said through bloody lips.
"Obviously." Tijd said. He looked intrigued by Cami's continued living. "Continue."
Sam
Sam ended up following a couple off-duty cyborgs and eavesdropped on them. He learned that the cyborgs had built in constant communications with one another, that arena was to the South, that Cami was holding her own in it, but not for long, and a certain guard was craving Italian pasta sauce. Apparently, he wanted to be buried in it. Weird…
Sam used the general sun direction to get to the arena. He found a door that had a palm scanner. Sam swallowed. He pressed his ear to the door and heard noises like metal scrapping metal, wood hitting metal, some screaming that he recognized as Cami's (whether in pain or as a battle cry, Sam couldn't tell through the door) and the something else he couldn't identify. Sam knew the arena was behind this door. He looked at the palm scanner. He had no idea how to crack that kind of lock. Sam swallowed and looked at it hopelessly.
Sam then got an idea. Just as the alarms started sounding, he shot the palm scanner with his shock pistol, shorted out the wiring, and ran through the opening door. Sam found himself in the stands of the arena. He looked down and saw Cami, bruised and bloodied, fighting for her life and loosing. She was screaming in both pain and as a battle cry.
"CAMI!" Sam yelled. It was a fatal mistake; it distracted Cami. She went down.
Cooper Gang (Murray, Carmelita, Guru, and Panda King)
The Cooper Gang had escaped easily thanks to the lockpick. They had split into two groups: Carmelita, Guru, Murray, and Panda King went to find the van while Sly, Bentley, and Penelope went to find a way to shut down the blimp and Tijd's plan.
"Where would the van be?" Murray asked, as they ran down the hallway.
"Likely in the hanger." Carmelita said, looking over her shoulder. "I bet it would be to the southern end of the blimp."
This way, then. Guru said, turning down a hallway to the right.
"Thank-you, Master!" Murray said, jubilantly.
"Indeed, Guru." Panda King remarked, following from behind.
Guru led the group down the hallways. He was surprisingly quick with such stubby legs and he managed to lead the group down guard-free hallways. Guru ran by a huge door that Carmelita stopped right in front of.
"Guys!" Carmelita called. The group skidded to a stop and looked back at her.
"Carmelita, Master says this way!" Murray said, wringing his hands. "We need to get my van."
"No, this is the hanger. Guru was just leading us to the South. We need to get in here and there are going to be guards." Carmelita said, pulling out her pistol. "Come on."
"We're with you, Carmelita!" Murray cracked his knuckles and punched the lock. He pried the door open and the four of them stormed the hanger.
The guards were surprisingly light in numbers and were easily dispatched. Honestly, the guards didn't even get a chance to yell. Carmelita fought like a fiend and she was beating the guards even after they were down. She needed an outlet for her worry about her kits.
"Carmelita!" Murray put a big hand on her shoulder. "They're done."
Carmelita was breathing heavily. She needed to hurt someone.
Calm, Carmelita. Guru said. You will be of no use to your kits if you are injured or killed by doing something stupid.
Carmelita sighed and nodded. Panda King and Carmelita dragged the guards into a broom closet while Guru and Murray yanked the chains off the van and looked it over.
"Mommy's here, Baby." Murray said, hugging the van. He stroked the flame paint-job and checked the van over for any dents or blemishes on the paint. Finding none, he said: "Alright! Everybody in, we need to be ready when Bentley, Penelope, Sly, and the twins get here."
Murray got in the van and fired up the engine. He double-checked every single aspect of the van while Panda King and Guru piled and Carmelita rigged the hanger doors to open via remote control. They joined Murray in the van. All that was left was to wait for the signal from Sly, Bentley, and Penelope.
Cooper Gang (Sly, Bentley, and Penelope)
Bentley, Penelope, and Sly were going to make the blimp self-destruct. They just needed to find the control room.
"Where are we going?" Sly asked after he took down a guard.
"Control room, Sly." Penelope said, stepping over the cyborg guy.
"And where would that be?" Sly asked looked over the corner for guards. "Clear."
The group moved forward and down the hallways and passed the unmarked doors. "Well, Sly, using a series of well-thought out theories and facts I have gather over the course of our capture and attack, along with my knowledge of blimp aerodynamics and engineering, all of understanding of Tijd's psychological aspects, and-"
"We really have no idea, Sly." Penelope interrupted.
"Oh, great!" Sly said, gripping the staff. "Just great. How long do you think it will take Sam to get Cami?"
"I don't think he has. We haven't heard any alarm yet. So I think so." Penelope said. She was looking at the wall.
"I hope you're right." Sly said. "Penelope, what are doing?"
"These are power cables. Immensely powerful power cables. Bentley, do you-?" Penelope asked
Bentley looked at Penelope with absolute awe. "How did I not realize? Penelope, you're a genius!"
"I know, but I like hearing you say it." Penelope kissed Bentley on the cheek.
"Someone want to clue me in?" Sly asked. "We need to keep moving." Sly was twitching; he needed to move. He was clearly worried about his kits.
"Just follow those cables, Sly, and we'll find our destination." Bentley brought up his dart crossbow and turned on his thrusters. He shot ahead of Sly and Penelope, shooting darts like mad.
Whoa, Bentley's attractive when he goes crazy with a crossbow…Mmm… Penelope thought as she and Sly took off after him. They followed Bentley's tire tracks and the power cables. Sly and Penelope ran by unconscious cyborgs that had been hit in Bentley's crazy onslaught.
Bentley was already inside the control room, hacking so fast that his fingers were blurred. Penelope joined him, typing on the same keyboard with him without speaking. The screen reflected on both of their glasses.
Sly looked around the control room, as quiet as a thief while they hacked. The room was huge and circular with a giant window overlooking the world. There were computers absolutely everywhere. Monitors, wires, keyboards, hardware, software, and every single electronic device all rolled into one. Sly knew from experience to not touch anything. Bentley would kill him if he did. Instead, Sly looked at all the screens, trying to find anything that would tell him how his kits were doing.
Sly found a single monitor showing the arena from all angles. He saw Cami fighting, as beautiful and ferocious as her mother, but inexperienced as well. She was loosing. Sly watched in utter horror as Cami was mercilessly attacked.
Sly tore his eyes away from the screen and looking around for Sam and Carmelita. He saw Carmelita shoot the security camera and have it turn to snow. Before the camera died, Sly caught a glimpse of the van and the rest of the crew. Sly searched for Sam next. Sam was running down the halls, as carefully and stealthily as a master thief. He dodged around and over guards, escaping their detection as he pushed forward. Every time Sam was seen, he just shot the guard with his dual pistols. The guards automatically shorted out and passed out.
"Come on, guys, we need to hurry. Cami can't last forever." Sly went back to looking at Cami's fighting.
"Give us a couple more minutes." Bentley said, typing furiously.
"Cami doesn't have a couple minutes!" Sly raged. "We need to move!"
"Just a few more minutes!" Bentley and Penelope said together, rapidly typing.
Sly turned back to the monitors. He watched Cami's fighting and movements, finding fault with each. In the back of his mind, he was coming up with six different methods of counter-acting each attack. Sly swallowed as Cami did none of them. She had talent, sure, but talent could only go so far.
"We need to move!" Sly all but yelled. "Cami's getting destroyed out there!"
"Just a little longer!" Penelope said.
Sly looked back at the monitor. "Aw, SCREW IT!" He yelled. "I'm going after Cami!"
"Sly! Don't!" Bentley ordered without looking away from the screen.
"WHY?" Sly raged.
"If you go, Tijd will surely win this and Cami and Sam will watch you and Carmelita die. Do you want them to have to see that? Our only chance to win this is to stick to the plan and hope everything works out. If you go, we'll lose this damn game. Do you want that?"
The tension in Sly's limbs slowly relaxed and he regained control of his anger. "No." Sly said softly.
"Good." Penelope said.
"We're in!" They said together.
"Now it's just a simple matter of rewriting the internal programs to-" Bentley began.
"Less talking, more doing." Sly said, crossing his arms.
"Done." Bentley said, turning around. "The blimp will blow up in five minutes."
"Let's go!" Penelope said after she
The three of them took off to the van. Bentley brought up the communicator to the van built into his wheelchair.
"Murray, we have about three minutes. We'll get to you and then we need to get to the twins." Bentley spoke into the communicator.
"No prob, little buddy, we'll come to you!" Murray said proudly.
"Wait, Murray, don't!" Bentley said as the van busted through the wall in front of them. Blaring alarms started sounding everywhere.
Carmelita opened the door. "Get in!"
Everyone jumped in without a second thought.
"Hold on!" Murray yelled as he floored it. "We need to get to the twins! Anybody remember where they are?"
"Arena!" Sly yelled holding on the handles Bentley had installed on the van walls.
"Where?" Murray turned on the windshield wipers as various guards got stuck on the van. The van, the near indestructible van, was busting through walls like they were made of cardboard.
Everyone was too concerned with holding on to answer, so Murray just kept driving forward. Murray stopped the van once he came to the edge of the stands in the arena.
In an instant, the Cooper Gang took in their surroundings. Sam stood on the other side of the arena, pistol out, Tijd was between the two groups. Cami was lying down on the ground, surrounded by the cyborgs who had stopped attacking her to look at the van that had broken through a wall. Cami slowly pushed herself up to watch as well.
There was a moment of shock as everyone appraised the other. Then Tijd started clapping.
"Nice job, although I did expect you here sooner." Tijd said, still clapping. "I assume you set the blimp to blow up, and are here to get these two." Tijd gestured to Sam.
As Tijd was talking, Cami noticed the cyborgs around her leaving the arena, quickly and quietly. She was pretty sure she was the only one who as noticing this. For a moment, Cami couldn't really understand why. She had lost a lot of blood. Then she understood, she was wanted alone in the arena, everyone else was in the stands. The question was, why?
Cami foggy mind could not come up with the answer. She just looked back up at Tijd, wiping the blood from her face with her sleeve. Everyone seemed frozen in place as Tijd talked so calmly. Sam didn't move from his spot in the stands. One was gripping one of his pistols so tightly that his knuckles were white. The Cooper Gang, despite their better instincts, had gotten out of the van. It was very odd, Cami thought, that even thought everyone knew the blimp was going to explode no one was freaking out or trying to leave.
"How long until it explodes?" Tijd asked, in his cold voice.
"Now, about three and a half minutes." Bentley said. One could almost see the cogs working in his brain, as he tried to figure out Tijd's plan.
Tijd nodded like he knew that. "You're numbers are off, Bentley. You only have two minutes, thirty-eight seconds. Here, let me help you get the twins off the blimp." Tjid flipped a switch and the arena floor opened to the gaping sky.
"NO! CAMI!" Carmelita screamed.
Cami fell, screaming, while Tijd laughed.